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Modified Document A: Sparks Letter to the Editor Sourcing WWW. HISTORICALT HINKINGM ATTERS. ORG — SCOPES T RIAL Modified Document A: Sparks Letter to the Editor Many citizens wrote letters to Tennessee’s newspapers in response to the Butler Act. Below is an excerpt from a letter written by a parent. Dear Editor: When the bill against the teaching of evolution in public schools was passed, I could not see why more mothers were not thanking the lawmakers. They were protecting our children from one of the destructive forces which will destroy our civilization. I for one was grateful that they stood up for the right. And grateful, too, that we have a Christian man for governor who will defend the Word of God against this so-called science. The Bible tells us that the gates of Hell shall not win against the church. We know there will always be standard-bearers for the cross of Christ. But in these times of materialism I thank God deep down in my heart for everyone whose voice is raised for humanity and the coming of God’s kingdom. Mrs. Jesse Sparks Pope, Tennessee Source: Mrs. Jesse Sparks, letter to the editor, Nashville Tennessean, July 3, 1925. Some of the language and phrasing in this document has been modified from the original. The original document can be found on the HTM website, www.historicalthinkingmatters.org. Sourcing 1. Why does Mrs. Sparks care about what is taught in schools? Contextualizing 2. To what does Mrs. Sparks refer when she says “these times of materialism”? Close Reading 3. Find all of the words that suggest the presence of a great danger. Why might Mrs. Sparks believe that evolution is such a threat? WWW. HISTORICALT HINKINGM ATTERS. ORG — SCOPES T RIAL Modified Document B: Textbook – A Civic Biology The excerpt below is from the biology textbook used by the State of Tennessee in 1925. The Butler Act made it illegal to teach from textbooks like this one. John Scopes could not remember if he actually taught the section on evolution from this textbook, but volunteered to say that he did in order to challenge the legality of the Butler Act. Pay attention to how the textbook explains the theory of evolution. The Doctrine of Evolution. We have now learned that animals may begin with very simple one-celled forms and end with a group which contains man himself. The great English scientist Charles Darwin explained the theory of evolution. This is the belief that simple forms of life on the earth slowly gave rise to more complex forms. Man’s Place in Nature. We see that man must be placed with the vertebrate animals because of his vertebral column. We place man with the apelike mammals because of structural likeness. The group of mammals which includes the monkeys, apes, and man we call the primates. Evolution of Man. There once lived races of men who were much lower in their mental organization than present people. If we follow the early history of man, we find that at first he must have been little better than one of the lower animals. Gradually he must have learned to use weapons and kill his prey, first using rough stones for this purpose. Man then began to farm the fields, and to have permanent houses. Civilization began long ago, but even today the earth is not entirely civilized. Source: Excerpt from widely-used biology textbook, A Civic Biology, written in 1914 by George W. Hunter, a biology teacher from New York City. Some of the language and phrasing in this document has been modified from the original. The original document can be found on the HTM website, www.historicalthinkingmatters.org. Close Reading 1. How does the textbook describe man’s evolutionary relationship to other animals? Why might the supporters of the Butler Act oppose such a theory? Corroborating 2. What do you think Mrs. Sparks (Document A) would find offensive about this textbook passage? 3. Why did many people in Tennessee support the Butler Act, which forbade the teaching of evolution? WWW. HISTORICALT HINKINGM ATTERS. ORG — SCOPES T RIAL Modified Document C: American Federation of Teachers Statement The American Federation of Teachers released a statement in support of John Scopes. As you read, think about their reasons for supporting him. The American Federation of Teachers is very concerned about the effect of the Tennessee anti- evolution law. Teaching has been threatened by unwise lawmakers who fear to trust the intelligence, the public spirit, and the devotion of teachers. As teachers, we especially fear the effect of the present wave of intolerance in education on the task of providing schools with open-minded and informed teachers. Without intellectual freedom, and without open discovery and discussion, there could be no scholarship, no schools at all, and no education. Source: Excerpt from resolution adopted by the American Federation of Teachers on July 18, 1925. Some of the language and phrasing in this document has been modified from the original. The original document can be found on the HTM website, www.historicalthinkingmatters.org. Close Reading 1. How do the teachers present themselves in this resolution? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. Contextualizing 2. What do you think the teachers mean by the phrase, “present wave of intolerance”? What does this phrase suggest about how these teachers view the Butler Act? WWW. HISTORICALT HINKINGM ATTERS. ORG — SCOPES T RIAL Modified Document D: Reverend Straton Article John Roach Straton was a minister who preached across the country against the sins of modern life. Straton believed in the literal truth of the Bible and the literal truth of Biblical miracles. He was firmly opposed to the teaching of evolution. He also believed that parents and local communities should control their own schools. The real issue at Dayton and everywhere today is this: “Whether the religion of the Bible shall be ruled out of the schools and the religion of evolution, with its harmful results, shall be ruled into the schools by law.” John Scopes’s lawyers left New York and Chicago, where real religion is ignored, where crime is most widespread, and they went to save a community where women are still honored, where men are still polite, where laws are still respected, where home life is still sweet, where the marriage vow is still sacred. Think of the nerve of it! and the enormous vanity of it! Source: Excerpt from Reverend John Roach Straton’s article in American Fundamentalist, “The Most Sinister Movement in the United States.” December 26, 1925. Some of the language and phrasing in this document has been modified from the original. The original document can be found on the HTM website, www.historicalthinkingmatters.org. Close Reading 1. What words does Straton use to show that he is complimentary of small towns? 2. According to Straton, what are signs of corruption in New York and Chicago? Contextualizing 3. According to Straton, how is the Scopes trial bigger than a simple debate between evolutionists and creationists? WWW. HISTORICALT HINKINGM ATTERS. ORG — SCOPES T RIAL Modified Document E: Chicago Defender The Chicago Defender was one of the main African American newspapers in the country. In the decade before the Scopes trial, the newspaper played a major role in convincing blacks to leave the South and move North. The excerpt below is from an editorial about the Scopes trial. In Tennessee a schoolteacher is being tried for teaching evolution to his students. If convicted, a prison term awaits him; he will be a felon and thrown into a cell with robbers, gunmen, and murderers. That is the South’s way. She fights anything that does not support the South’s idea of white superiority. If truths are introduced that southern grandfathers did not believe, then it must be kept down. The Tennessee lawmakers probably never read the textbook themselves. All they know about the subject is that the entire human race is supposed to have started from a common origin. There is their difficulty. If they admit that idea, they will have to admit that there is no difference between themselves and the race they pretend to hate. This would, of course, threaten the existing standards of living in the South. Source: Excerpt from Chicago Defender editorial, “If Monkeys Could Speak.” May 23, 1925. Some of the language and phrasing in this document has been modified from the original. The original document can be found on the HTM website, www.historicalthinkingmatters.org. Close Reading 1. According to this editorial, why did the South oppose the theory of evolution? Corroborating 2. Both the Chicago Defender and the American Federation of Teachers (see Document C) oppose the Butler Act. What are the similarities and differences between their arguments? WWW. HISTORICALT HINKINGM ATTERS. ORG — SCOPES T RIAL Modified Document F: Malone’s Trial Speech Dudley Field Malone was a New York attorney who was on the defense team. He argued for the importance of teaching science. Though the local Tennesseeans viewed Malone with suspicion, the force and passion of this speech surprisingly lifted the audience to its feet. What is the issue that has gained the attention, not only of the American people, but people everywhere? Is it whether Scopes taught the paragraph in the textbook? You think, your Honor, that reporters from London are here because the issue is whether John Scopes taught a couple of paragraphs out of his book? Oh, no. The least that this generation can do, your Honor, is to give the next generation all the facts and theories that observation and learning have produced—give it to the children in the hope of heaven that they will make a better world than we have.
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